Canals And Artificial Waterways Codexery

Buckingham Canal

A historic coastal waterway linking Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, now being restored for flood protection and navigation.

Last updated

It stretches 257 km through Andhra Pradesh and 163 km through Tamil Nadu, with about 31 km within Chennai city limits.[1] Among Chennai's three main waterways, the Buckingham Canal is the most polluted; it receives close to 60% of the estimated 55 million litres of untreated sewage that is discharged into waterways each day.[2]

Quick Facts

Original name
Cochrane's Canal (renamed Buckingham Canal in 1878)

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

The canal was taken over by the Madras Presidency government in 1837 and later extended north to Pulicat Lake.[3][4] The canal drains water from south Chennai, and a 2014 CAG report noted that a diversion channel could have saved south Chennai from flooding.[5] The canal was declared part of National Waterway 4 in November 2008, prompting revival efforts.[6] In 2011, a 13 km stretch between Okkiyam Madu and Muttukadu was being widened to 100 m and deepened to 2.4 m using a U.S.A.-built dredge.[7]

In 1806, a saltwater navigation canal was built from Madras to Ennore, covering 11 miles; this was the canal's first segment.[8] The canal was first called Cochrane's Canal because Basil Cochrane was its main financial backer.[3][9]

What the cited sources add

The same source notes that the canal's originally planned course ran from Kakinada to Kalapettai, comprising multiple named canal segments including the Kakinada Canal, Eluru Canal, and Commamuru Canal.[10] The Hindu article reports that the canal has shrunk drastically near Ennore and is heavily silted with fly ash from thermal power stations.[10] Darvill also records that the canal was briefly named Lord Clive's Canal but was colloquially known as Cochrane's Canal in Madras for much of the 19th century.[9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Buckingham Canal" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Buckingham Canal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lakshmi, "Untreated sewage pollutes waterways", The Hindu, 29 September 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Buckingham Canal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "An ambitious plan to revive the Buckingham Canal", The Hindu (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Buckingham Canal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "An ambitious plan to revive the Buckingham Canal", The Hindu; Darvill, "India's First Railways", Indian Railways Fan Club, December 2011 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Buckingham Canal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Flood: Chennai corpn learned little from CAG advice - Times of India", indiatimes.com, 20 November 2015 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Buckingham Canal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The Hindu (25 July 2010), "South Buckingham Canal widening", 25 July 2010; Public Works Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, "Policy Note (2010-2011), Public Works Department of Tamilnadu" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Buckingham Canal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: K. Lakshmi, "Imported machinery deployed to desilt South Buckingham canal", The Hindu, 2011-01-25 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Buckingham Canal" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jan Lundqvist, "Water Supply and Waste Disposal Strategies for Madras", Ambio, Nov 1998, p. 442–448 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Darvill, "India's First Railways", Indian Railways Fan Club, December 2011. facts only, no text reused. irfca.org
  10. "An ambitious plan to revive the Buckingham Canal", The Hindu. facts only, no text reused. thehindu.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Buckingham Canal (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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